Are earthboxes worth the money?

wil2279

wil2279

Well-Known Member
So I have a few outdoor auto grows and a couple of indoor auto grows under my belt now. My last auto grow yielded 6-8 oz which was over my goal. This run I set my goal much higher.. and I feel confident that I'll meet my goal. I'm an organic grower. I top dress with dry amendments. And I have struggled badly with watering. And to be honest. I now understand why I struggled.

My current grow is with earthbox subirregated planters. And by using these, you can get a good understanding of how much water the plants use during each growth stage. Anyhow the only real difference between this grow and the last grow are the earthboxes. The soil mix was slightly different but believe me, the big difference is not the soil or amendments. It's the planters! With the earthboxes you just fill the reservoir when it is empty. It's almost completely a water only grow. And I went from this during my last grow with 6 plants. The pots are 5 gallon grass roots pots. PXL_20220305_024206232~2.jpg
To my current grow which still has several weeks left. There are 7 plants in this tent but you can't really see the runt under the leaves of the other 6 plants. The earthbox juniors hold about 3.5 gallons maybe 4 gallons of soil. PXL_20220507_132559416.MP.jpg
 
wil2279

wil2279

Well-Known Member
So I can not recommend these type of planters enough for a new grower especially! Or just a grower that wants to simplify their grow. They take the guess work out of watering! My future grows are probably going to be in a 2x4 tent instead of this 4x4. And instead of growing 6-8 plants, I will probably only be growing 2-3 plants.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
A lot of us just build our own sips,some small but most around 20g of soil.They really are the best for organic.
Have a look at the SIP thread in indoor growing.
 
Humanrob

Humanrob

Well-Known Member
wil2279 said:
So I have a few outdoor auto grows and a couple of indoor auto grows under my belt now. My last auto grow yielded 6-8 oz which was over my goal. This run I set my goal much higher.. and I feel confident that I'll meet my goal. I'm an organic grower. I top dress with dry amendments. And I have struggled badly with watering. And to be honest. I now understand why I struggled.

My current grow is with earthbox subirregated planters. And by using these, you can get a good understanding of how much water the plants use during each growth stage. Anyhow the only real difference between this grow and the last grow are the earthboxes. The soil mix was slightly different but believe me, the big difference is not the soil or amendments. It's the planters! With the earthboxes you just fill the reservoir when it is empty. It's almost completely a water only grow. And I went from this during my last grow with 6 plants. The pots are 5 gallon grass roots pots. View attachment 5129833
To my current grow which still has several weeks left. There are 7 plants in this tent but you can't really see the runt under the leaves of the other 6 plants. The earthbox juniors hold about 3.5 gallons maybe 4 gallons of soil. View attachment 5129837
Click to expand...
A few questions... Are you using Earthboxes with autos? Are you using the "trench" of nutes method that the boxes instructions suggest?

When I've tried to mix in dry nutes with my soil -- the way I used to when I grew photos -- I cooked my first (indoor) autos. That was even true when I cut it back to 1/4 strength. The successful auto/SIP growers I've seen on AFN were all using living soil. One of the reasons I stopped using SIPs was that I switched to autos 100%, and living soil was just too much work for me. I loved SIPs because they were 'plug and play', simple one-time setup and then just add water. How are you feeding yours?
 
wil2279

wil2279

Well-Known Member
I am using autos. My current run is 3 Mephisto plants, 3 Fastbuds plants and the runt is a sweet seeds plant. I am using fertilizer in the soil " Build A Soil" style. It is a true coot mix but I used 1/2 the fertilizer. If you don't want to mix your own soil I would personally try a roughly 50/50 mix of something like happy frog and ocean forest. If you have fertilizer mixed into the soil you want to allow the resivour to go totally dry before adding more water so your soil gets air between watering. Lack of oxygen will cause an anaerobic situation. As far as feeding. I just top dressed this past week with some dry blended fertilizer and a few cups of coast of Maine lobster compost. I first planted my seeds on April 1st so I'm about 37 days into this grow... Oh shit, 37 days... I really have a long way to go. I didn't even realize. I'm only 5 weeks in. I have 5-7 weeks left most likely. I'm hoping they don't get much bigger. I am doing a defoliation on Monday or Tuesday.


Humanrob said:
A few questions... Are you using Earthboxes with autos? Are you using the "trench" of nutes method that the boxes instructions suggest?

When I've tried to mix in dry nutes with my soil -- the way I used to when I grew photos -- I cooked my first (indoor) autos. That was even true when I cut it back to 1/4 strength. The successful auto/SIP growers I've seen on AFN were all using living soil. One of the reasons I stopped using SIPs was that I switched to autos 100%, and living soil was just too much work for me. I loved SIPs because they were 'plug and play', simple one-time setup and then just add water. How are you feeding yours?
Click to expand...
 
wil2279

wil2279

Well-Known Member
myke said:
A lot of us just build our own sips,some small but most around 20g of soil.They really are the best for organic.
Have a look at the SIP thread in indoor growing.
Click to expand...
Building your own would be fine... But it seems like a lot of work when you can just buy one for like $30-$40
 
Boatguy

Boatguy

Well-Known Member
My earthboxes have been hit or miss with my outdoor veggies.. One year they got infested with some kind of bugs, larvae were crawling all over everything. I have had a few good seasons with them as well.
When it goes well they kick ass, when it doesnt, it doesnt and the reason isnt clear to me

I have never used their soil, or fert method.
 
G

Gravity5201

New Member
Humanrob said:
A few questions... Are you using Earthboxes with autos? Are you using the "trench" of nutes method that the boxes instructions suggest?

When I've tried to mix in dry nutes with my soil -- the way I used to when I grew photos -- I cooked my first (indoor) autos. That was even true when I cut it back to 1/4 strength. The successful auto/SIP growers I've seen on AFN were all using living soil. One of the reasons I stopped using SIPs was that I switched to autos 100%, and living soil was just too much work for me. I loved SIPs because they were 'plug and play', simple one-time setup and then just add water. How are you feeding yours?
Click to expand...
Humanrob, have you found any more information on this? I've been digging around the SIP thread looking for someone doing autos this way but I haven't found anything solid. I'm doing research on SIPs and autos as I am hoping to start my first grow in the next week or so and I wanted to thank you for all your contributions on this subject!
 
Humanrob

Humanrob

Well-Known Member
Gravity5201 said:
Humanrob, have you found any more information on this? I've been digging around the SIP thread looking for someone doing autos this way but I haven't found anything solid. I'm doing research on SIPs and autos as I am hoping to start my first grow in the next week or so and I wanted to thank you for all your contributions on this subject!
Click to expand...
Sorry, I have not found any more info. I've been curious about using a SIP again, but they don't fit my grow style so I haven't been focused on it. Good luck with your research --
:peace:
 
Hollatchaboy

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
wil2279 said:
Building your own would be fine... But it seems like a lot of work when you can just buy one for like $30-$40
Click to expand...
Earthboxes only hold 1 cu.ft. of soil. If you grow big plants, it still has a hard time keeping up with the plants nutritional needs in flower. Double the volume would be much better.
 
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